Awakening Opportunities
by Kellsabelle
Summary: One bumbling intern causes an explosion at the Department of Mysteries that will forver change the lives of six young people. How on earth was he supposed to know that the greatest change in the modern wizarding world would be his fault?
1. Prologue

_Hello everyone. This is a new story, a work in progress that as usual had been written purely because I could not stop thinking about it and planning it in my head. The words, however you interpret them, were begging and pounding to be let out so I let them. I'm not sure how popular this type of story is, I have a very complicated mind map in my head which will see everything and everyone from both of the worlds linked together as seamlessly as possible. I would appreciate reviews, some general intrest and a speck of excitment, because honestly this idea made me excited. So lo and behold, a new crossover from Kellsabelle, hopefully with more detail and far more interesting than other previous works. **(Pretty Please review, PUH-LEASE!)**_

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><p><strong><em>AWAKENING OPPORTUNITIES<em>**

**Prologue: Where one accident leads to a whole new series of unexpected events. **

Jimmy Baumers called DaBomb by his friends and Jimmy by most everyone else was in a sour mood. It was a rainy Monday morning and the gutters and roofs sighed with the weight of the late summer rain. They were as achy and sore as Jimmy himself after the rainy summer which made an already dismal English summer even more disappointing. As he considered this and attempted to blink the rain off his face Jimmy tried all his might to imagine himself back home, Port Douglas in Queensland where his muggle parents gave diving tours of the Great Barrier Reef and his sister Sasha was planning her sunny winter wedding.

He was in week five of an internship with the English Ministry of Magic, an offer his teachers had called 'An opportunity to delve into international relations and experience another culture.' Jimmy had leapt at the chance and had taken a long distance portkey from Brisbane with no idea exactly what he was getting into. What he had since learned was that his internship, the 'once in a lifetime opportunity' involved being passed around from department to department as the English Ministry attempted to restore itself from some type of crisis that no one was willing to properly explain to him. A week of this and discussions with the other international interns, particularly a fiery woman from New York, led him to learn that they were being used to fill the empty places. They were cheap and lowly paid, brought in from all over the world under the guise that they would be getting a firsthand experience from one of the world's oldest magical ministries. Instead Jimmy and the others had found themselves thrown into the chaos and been expected to succeed where others had floundered.

Needless to say Jimmy was finding that International Relations was not nearly as exciting or dramatic as he had imagined it might be sitting in his Global Politics and Culture Relations classes. Taking the staff entrance in and being security checked as all people entering and exciting were he prepared himself for another dismally dull yet still frustratingly frantic day. It was only when he passed through security and was on his way to the intern office to receive his assignments for the new week that something would happen that would change drastically the result of an event planned in the ministry for that week in 1999.

Turning over his shoulder to wave a sign of welcome to Cassidy O'Hannesy, the woman from New York he had found himself liking more and more every day, poor Jimmy had no way of seeing the elderly ministry worker until he had walked right into him thereby knocking the man, his pile of parchment and two travel mugs of coffee to the marble floor.

"Whoa Sir sorry about that, guess I didn't see you there." Jimmy said as he helped the man to his feet while trying not to hear Cassidy's laughter coming from behind him. He knelt down to pile the rolls of parchment together and collect the coffee mugs but he was brushed aside by the now very grumpy man.

"What on earths your problem! Are you to blind to see a real person?" The man had a very loud voice with the same accent as Cassidy. "Or did you think I was just a ghost? I can assure you kid I'm not that old yet!" Furious the man yelled at Jimmy, kicking his own parchment rolls out of his hands. "And get off your knee's dam it, what are you, a muggle? Use you're bleedin' wand!" With an angry swirl the man sent the rolls flying up where they began to sort themselves behind him. He then summoned the cups of coffee and aimed an angry glare at Jimmy's bemused expression before he stomped out of the intern office, limping slightly and cursing interns everywhere.

Jimmy was left stunned for a moment before following the wizards advice he picked himself up and waited for Cassidy to join him.

"Jimmy! What's up with 'Dabomb' today? You were all over the place!" Cassidy was speaking sarcastically as she joined him, her accent reminding Jimmy he wasn't the only foreigner stuck in a not so life changing internship.

"Shut up Cass, it's your bloody fault anyway, I was waving to you when he practically apparated in front of me!" Jimmy's face was flushed red, he could actually feel the heat rising up the back of his neck, something Cass to was able to notice.

"Whatever Jimmy, know where you're being sent this week?" Cass successfully changed the subject, trying to distract Jimmy from his embarrassment.

"Not yet, I thought we might ask together, I swear if I'm in the Health Department again I might just leave, I'll walk out and never come back to this bloody place."

Cassidy laughed at him, the horrid weather outside had obviously not dampened her morning mood. Cursing her ceaseless ability to be happy Jimmy approached the register with her, where a wrinkled wizard called James would give them their assignment for the week.

"O'Hannesy, Baumer, let me see where the two of you have been sentenced this week."

James had a West Country accent so strong that Jimmy and Cassidy had barely managed to hold back their amusement the first time they had met him, something James had noticed. By the third week he was putting more effort into his accent and occasionally putting on an Australian or New York accent to give them even bigger reason to laugh. He was one of the few people Jimmy could find bearable in the entire ministry.

"O'Hannesy, Department of Law Enforcement and Baumer, let me see… Looks like they put you in the Department of Mysteries, good luck getting anything done there, the place is a nightmare."

"The Department of Mysteries! Really?" Jimmy couldn't believe his luck, it was rare for interns to be sent to that particular department and he could already see the jealousy on Cassidy's face.

"That is so not fair!" She complained as they walked back to the elevators. "You're in the Department of Mysteries and I'm stuck filing paperwork for some wanna be Aurors."

"You know that they probably have paperwork in the Department of Mysteries too."

"Sure but it'll be printed on encrypted parchment or something, it isn't just an ordinary department you know!"

Jimmy wouldn't say it out loud but he was sincerely hoping that Cassidy was right; he seriously needed something to make the rest of this so far disappointing and uninspiring internship interesting, otherwise he would be forced to admit that this was a huge waste of time.

His thoughts were interrupted as he was tapped from behind by a woman with short blonde hair and squinty brown eyes.

"Would you be Jimmy Baumer the Australian intern?" She spoke too fast, with a condescending tone that unnerved Jimmy instantly.

"Yeah that's me." Jimmy said, waving to Cassidy that she should continue without him.

"Excellent, my name is Sherry Delaware I'll be taking you to the Unspeakable office that you'll be working in. You're lucky to be placed here you know, not many interns get the chance to. You'll be assisting one of our senior Unspeakables, Joel Edgemont. Be warned though, he can be a little rough, he's been ill recently though so it's me who's insisting that he takes an intern for support. He's a brilliant teacher, he was my mentor when I joined the Unspeakables…"

Sherry Delaware continued to speak as they made their way down into the Department of Mysteries, her condescending tone never ceasing as she explained his duties to him as a mother does to a petulant child. She unhesitatingly told Jimmy how wonderful this Joel Edgemont was as she led him through into a circular room surrounded by black doors. It all seemed very eerie and unnatural to Jimmy but Sherry did not seem to notice. Undeterred by the creepy room Sherry led him into the door on the right and Jimmy found himself in an office, a large square room with a tall ceiling that was full of cubicles and lined with a wall of windows, each showing a different setting at a different time of day. As Sherry led him further into the room Jimmy noticed with amazement that each setting appeared to be in a different country, he could see people moving in crowds and hear them speaking in different languages. It was like a giant monitoring window!

Sherry turned unexpectedly and led him through a doorway into a messy office. "Here we are Mr Baumer, this is Joel Edgemont, and I'll just leave you two to get acquainted." Smiling Sherry left and Jimmy got his first glance at Joel Edgemont. He was sitting in a chair facing the wall, going through a pile of jumbled up parchment. There were two travel mugs sitting on his desk. Suddenly Jimmy had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Hey kid, welcome to the Department of Mysteries. There might be coffee in the mug, some bloody kid walked into me this morning don't know what state it's in now so you can blame him if it tastes like polished marble wax."

Finishing his rant Joel Edgemont rotated on his muggle office chair and got a look at the intern Sherry had insisted he take on. When he met eyes with Jimmy Baumer, who was feeling less and less like Dabomb as his friends had christened him in 1993 when he was thirteen, he narrowed his eyes.

Jimmy stuttered slightly and held out his hand for the Unspeakable to shake. "Good morning Sir, I don't think I've introduced myself."

While he waited for the handshake that Joel Edgemont would not be giving him Jimmy felt that sinking feeling in his stomach transfigure into a full on swallow me up whole now type feeling. In the following week it would only worsen. Jimmy would realise that Joel Edgemont was a man of many particulars, he was not nearly as elderly as he looked and he stuck to a first impression like no other person he knew.

Looking back on it if Jimmy Baumer had not stopped to wave at the girl he had a crush on, if he had not then walked into and knocked to the ground a very important and distinguished Unspeakable, hence ruining any chance of a potential mentor relationship then maybe what happened on the following Friday wouldn't have. Maybe he would not have given Joel Edgemont reason to walk out of the ministry and maybe the group of teenagers touring the Department of Mysteries that day would not have been left in the sweaty and incapable hands of an Australian intern no older then themselves. Just maybe that explosion might never have happened, but if that had been the case then there's really no reason for you to be reading this. If it were not for the clumsy mistake of an Australian intern just finished his final exams then there would be no need for these events to be written down, because really, why would you want to read about the angsty unhappiness of a homesick kid?

That explosion would happen though, it has happened and it cannot be doubted. The events that led to it started on a Friday morning. Poor Jimmy had been worked like a dog all week by Joel Edgemont who still held the grudge caused by his clumsiness that Monday morning. This Friday morning it was not raining; it was that queer in-between type of weather, as if the planet is still figuring out just what exactly it would like to throw at the human race today. Jimmy had woken up with a runny nose on Tuesday morning and it had progressed into what he suspected to be a fiery version for the simple common cold. If it had not been for his allergy to the pepper up potion this would not be a problem but poor Jimmy had already shown he did not have the best of luck. The cold had been making his head ache and his nose run all day. At night it would become blocked and no amount of vapor rub or hot drinks were able to clear it. As a result Jimmy had very little sleep; he was tired and had a headache Friday morning when he woke up. Despite the mystery that was the Department of Mysteries he could not find the enthusiasm to pull himself out of bed.

He was known to persevere though, so 'Dabomb' crawled out of bed, had a steamy shower and tried to believe that today Joel Edgemont would take him into the department properly so he could get a real Department of Mysteries experience. Sherry had told him to expect him to be rough and Jimmy was finding he was exactly that and so much more. He was a hard task master who expected perfection and did not believe that an intern should be allowed to follow him around the Department learning secrets that only Unspeakables get to know.

So whenever possible Mr. Edgemont left Jimmy in his office, with piles and piles of paperwork and correspondence that he was expected to complete daily. It was dull and seemed to Jimmy obsolete as no matter how many times he emptied the in tray it would naturally fill itself up again by magic. He was also sent on countless errands and followed Joel to all of his meetings in various rooms of the department where he would dutifully write down the conclusions of the meeting and fetch pumpkin juice, pumpkin pasties and the many other things that he had learnt the English made with pumpkin whenever an Unspeakable asked for one. These were the few times he had managed to get a glimpse of the department and he had realised that every one of the grumpy Unspeakables was determined to keep the Department of Mysteries a mystery to him.

Jimmy felt his anger, disappointment and exhaustion grow and grow till he could hardly stand the stifling tension in the messy office. So on Friday morning when Joel Edgemont limped into his office and barked at the exhausted Jimmy Baumer that he was a waste of space before berating him about how he should know to bring his mentor coffee on Friday mornings considering it was the end of the week and god dam it he needed the caffeine just so he could stand to look at Jimmy's lopsided face, he snapped. The argument was fast and messy, with neither side realizing what the phenomenal result of their word tipped swords would be.

Standing in the open door Jimmy didn't bother to keep his voice low. "What the hell is your problem? I've tried to be courteous but you're such a grumpy old man that you're making it extremely difficult!"

Joel Edgemont could not believe the nerve of this kid. "I'm the difficult one!" He thundered. "You're the ungrateful swine who doesn't realise how good he's got it! Do you know how many people are out there who would kill to be in the position you're in now? No you don't because you're a lazy ass who doesn't appreciate the good things people do for him!"

"How is sealing your letters and cleaning your owl tray a good thing, and why the hell do you even have so much paper work? You're meant to be an Unspeakable I thought you couldn't tell people so much about your work!"

"Maybe if you paid a bit more attention you would know a bit more about what exactly it is I do!"

The two men, one young with the shadow of an Australian tan still on his skin and the other old with the shadow of secrets on his face began to walk towards each other. They were yelling in the middle of the office now, both of them finding their accents becoming broader and more pronounced with rage.

"I have paid attention and it's clear to me that I have mastered everything there is to know about your pitiful job so I don't even see the point of me being here!"

With an enraged shout Joel Edgemont yelled the final comment in the argument that would seal the fate of six teenagers that day. "Fine then! I'll just leave, tell Sherry that you will fulfill my duties for the day, if you're still alive on Monday and this place is still in one piece then I will concede to your greatness."

With a snare Joel Edgemont limped back out of his office, slamming the door behind him and leaving a steaming Jimmy standing in a mess of swirling paper work with neither of them realizing the grievous events that they had now set in motion.

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><p>Sherry had been skeptical when Jimmy relayed Edgemont's message for her. She went so far as to raise an overly plucked eyebrow and purse her lips but she was the type of person who trusts to easy so she agreed that Jimmy could take on Joel Edgemont's Unspeakable duties for the day.<p>

"He was going to have the morning off I believe, he was planning on signing his own correspondence today because he was supposed to be giving a tour this afternoon."

"A tour?" Jimmy said disbelievingly. "What on earth of?"

Sherry laughed at him and her condescending tone, that Jimmy suspected was more than a little narcissistic, made another appearance."Of the Department of Mysteries silly! I think he was going to take you as well, it's your last day with us right? Now just come over to my cubicle and I'll give you some more detailed instructions."

With Sherry's words Jimmy felt a layer of guilt slide into his stomach and his face heat up. Maybe he shouldn't have yelled at Joel Edgemont this morning. Was it possible it was all a joke? Jimmy sincerely wished it was but as previously said Jimmy's luck was just not with him today. Sherry lead him through the narrow walkways between the cubicles which Jimmy had earlier noticed were all completely and eerily empty, no furniture or staff to be seen.

"This is my one Jimmy, just walk in." Sherry smiled at him and did not see the skepticism on Jimmy's face. So naturally she also did not notice the surprise on his face when they walked into the cubicle and found themselves in a walled office, wide and spacious with a charmed window on one wall and two desks both immaculately clean and ordered in the center of the room.

"Now I'm sure that Joel has been as wonderful as I remember so I would expect an intelligent intern such as yourself to find this very simple, the tour is just a group of teenagers, I believe he was expecting six of them and your just supposed to give them a walking tour and very brief introduction to the department and the role of Unspeakables such as myself and Joel. See extraordinarily easy." Sherry gave Jimmy one of her specialty squinty eyed, simpering smiles expecting to hear words of relief.

Jimmy however could now feel that layer of guilt in his stomach change to a feeling of dread and he barely managed to stutter out his next words. "I have hardly managed to get a glimpse of the department all week, I spent most of my time in Joel Edgemont's bloody office!"

Sherry ignored his rudeness towards them man Jimmy suspected she idolized and just laughed him off as she opened a drawer in the left desk. "Don't worry, if I know Joel and I can assure you I do, then even if he hasn't been giving you the guided tour he has been talking your ear off at every opportunity about the wonders of this place. He was like that all the time to me and I have no doubt that you even know some little snippets that I haven't heard before! So why don't you go make yourself presentable, you have snot hanging out your nose dear, and then just be in the top foyer at noon to collect your tour group. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll do fantastic."

With a final, condescending and narcissistic grin she handed him a purple covered book. "This is a guide to the department, designed for new Unspeakables, so it should help you with any problems, but as I have said before I doubt that you'll have any." Sherry Delaware then took a seat at the left of her two desks and waved him out of the cubicle room. Feeling the sinking feeling deepen until Jimmy felt like he was walking with lead feet he left her. He couldn't go back Joel Edgemont's messy office, not that he'd want to anyway so he left the department, taking the elevator back to the intern office where he slumped in a chair and tried to read the book Sherry had given him which he soon found to be pitifully useless. He had no idea what he was going to do.

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><p>In the end Jimmy waited in the office for anyone to save him, and when Cassidy had came up to hand some paperwork in for James she had sat with him and tried to give him what condolences she could. Jimmy felt his heart race when she took the book from his hands and felt for just the slightest moment her skin against his.<p>

"Well Jimmy my only advice is that maybe you should pack your bags, if you don't quit at the end of this day I will not be surprised if they fire you."

"Thank you Cassidy, your intelligence astounds me!" Jimmy said sarcastically. He knew too well that she was right, Port Douglas and a Sunshine Coast winter were sounding beautiful right about now, cyclone season was over and he could imagine how amazing the sun would feel. Jimmy however was forced to resign himself to the fact that he was in London, the Ministry of Magic and that his childhood home on the Sunshine Coast was a long way away. At eleven forty five he took one mighty breath, steadied himself and went into the main foyer, not knowing how to spot the teenagers he was supposed to be leading except for an idea that they would probably be the ones looking as excited and eager as he did during the first week of his internship.

The group of teenagers that Jimmy found waiting for him, standing awkwardly next to each other did not look as he anticipated. They looked like they were feeling a combination of nausea, uneasiness and resentment. The group of teenagers he was staring at was Millicent Bulstrode, Daphne Greengrass, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, and Draco Malfoy. But that information was not known to Jimmy Baumers, really that information is for you so you can understand why each of them was there that day.

They had each received a letter from the ministry advising them to repeat their seventh year of Hogwarts. While many reasons were listed for doing so, using large words and a complicated vocabulary even for wizarding standards each of them could come to the same conclusion. They had been sent this letter because the ministry did not want them, the children of both convicted and suspected Death Eaters to be out in society. They saw that inviting them on a tour of the Department of Mysteries was a ruse, a prize that wasn't really worth much because they knew the place to still be in a shambles due to the events that had happened there during their fifth year. One way or another they were all convinced to go along with it. Fear of being suspected was one reason, as was a genuine desire to get a proper education along with the fact that school seemed like one of the best places to hide from society and both its misconceptions and expectations.

They had arrived together, using Theo's house as a base for apparition and when they arrived they were told to simply wait where they could be seen. With these vague instructions they assembled in a close knit group and it was shortly after that they got their first glimpse of who they thought was Professor Joel Edgemont.

They could see that he was a tall teenager, who looked like he was the same age as most of them there. His hair was a curly brown they could see was shining with sun induced blonde streaks. Daphne noticed that he had dark, dark blue eyes and several of them noticed with disdain that he was sniffling a snotty nose as he approached them. It was Pansy Parkinson who was the first to comment, sticking her nose in the air as she did so.

"Are you this senior and respected Unspeakable, Is this a joke?" She scoffed to poor Jimmy's face, flipping a strand of dirty blonde hair over her shoulder.

This may seem rude to us but the group of teenagers were used to Pansy's upfront and often judgmental way of speaking. Something that nearly nineteen years of life in the wealthy upper class of wizarding society was unable to hinder.

Jimmy Baumers though, was not used to Pansy Parkinsons abrupt manner and he seemed to visibly become three centimeters shorter under her skeptical gaze. Taking a wheezing breath he did manage to stutter out an explanation. "Actually I'm his intern, my name's Jimmy and for reasons I am unable to explain Joel Edgemont seemed to think it would be a good idea if I gave you the tour."

Jimmy tried to stop his face going red as Pansy raised an eyebrow at him. The remaining five shifted uneasily behind her. Finally it was Draco Malfoy, speaking from the back of the group who broke the silence.

"Well as pleasant as this little introduction is I don't want to be here any longer then I have to be, so let's get this started." He walked past Jimmy, knowing that the Slytherins would follow and that the bumbling so called tour guide would follow as well.

"But Greg isn't here yet Draco! We can't go without him." It was a black haired girl who spoke. She was plain looking with clear grey eyes, which Jimmy noticed were the only things a person could consider pretty about her. As he contemplated this Jimmy only just managed to catch what the white blond haired boy, Draco, said in reply to her.

"Bulstrode, I doubt very much if Goyle is going to come today, in fact, I doubt very much that he is even in this country anymore."

The Draco kids face seemed to get considerably darker as he finished the final sentence, and while the grey eyed girl seemed to only hear the disdain in his voice Jimmy had grown up with four sisters, he could spot a double meaning or a hidden undertone from a mile away. So really he thought, as he watched the grey eyed girl simper under his gaze before stepping back in line next to the tallest of the boys, it was obvious that this Draco guy was hurting, something about this Goyle had made him angry.

The group it seemed had been left in silence, wiping another trickle of sweat off from his forehead Jimmy lead them into the elevator and prayed that he would have enough information in his head to get through this tour without looking like too much of an idiot.

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><p>..."And this is the time keepers room, where there have been studied made on the magic of time, it's presence and the possibility of changing and manipulating it." Jimmy stuttered out yet another sentence from the purple bound book Sherry had sweetly given to him just this morning. This entire situation was a disaster, the kids taking the tour had been unconvinced at first and now they had finally settled on treating him with what he could only assume to be exasperation. It was clear to him that they wanted to be here as much as he did, that was to say, not at all.<p>

He was about to continue speaking, turning the pages in the book as he led the group out of the room and down a corridor illuminated with a sparkly silver colour when suddenly the tallest, gangling boy stopped.

"I've had enough of this crap!" His loud yell shocked the remaining five teenagers out of their bored silence. Jimmy quietly tried to hide up against the wall, hoping the eerie light would let him stay silent and observing. Just the way he liked it.

"Theo what are you going on about?" It was the girl with the short black hair and grey eyes, the one that Draco had called Bulstrode. Behind her, a tall girl with long chocolate brown hair stood looking lost, inching away from both her and the dark skinned boy on her other side. At the very back the girl whose name Jimmy had not picked up on yet, but who we know as Pansy, and who had been so snarky to him at the beginning of the tour disentangled her hands from Draco's and approached the front of the group. Draco just stood there at the back, watching that tall boy make his retort to the grey eyed girl.

"Don't play dumb Millicent, you know this is just some bullshit ministry diversion to keep us out of the way for another year." His voice was layered with so much anger that Jimmy could practically see it coating his words.

"Theo this is a bribe, they want us back at school, sure it might be for those reasons but it is till them bribing us, we still have the power here." That was the snarky girl Jimmy noted, she was now standing next to the grey eyed girl, Millicent, who was nervously fiddling with her hair.

Theo laughed at her. "Don't be delusional Pansy." He said with a voice laced with venom. "You're not the queen bee anymore, you hardly have a group left to call yourself queen of."

Pansy's lip quivered and for the briefest second Jimmy saw a flicker of self doubt whisk across her face like lightening.

"Theo what's gotten into you? You're never like this." It was the dark skinned boy who said that, he was tall, still shorter than Theo but tall none the less. His voice came across to Jimmy as a voice of reason, a logical one amongst emotion.

"Maybe Blaise I've just gotten sick of being pushed around. Our entire lives have been one stinking tour, we never decided anything for ourselves! Anything!"

Theo's voice became louder, he walked amongst his group of friends. Staring and pointing at each one of them accusingly. "I'm over it; I'm over being led around by fools like him!" Theo stalked over to where Jimmy was standing in silent and pained shock and glared down at him.

"My dad's not in Azkaban yet, but he will be soon. Rotting like an old piece of rubbish. Shriveling with age until Death comes to rescue him." He spoke with such malice and so cold heartedly that Jimmy felt the blood freeze in his chest. His head throbbed with the pain of his headache and his breathing was haggard due to his blocked nose and congested sinuses. "Everything I did was either for him, my mother or our reputation. I was the prize act in their little circus and just maybe I'm sick of having a ring master."

The group watching from behind him was stunned into silence. Jimmy felt the weight behind his eyes get heavier and heavier. Even Pansy who had previously exercised her mastery of sarcasm frequently and Blaise, the voice of reason had nothing to say. Theo just sighed and shook his head at them. "I am sick." He said quietly, glaring at his friends stunned faces "Of being treated like I am as dumb, shallow, absent minded, lazy and incompetent as you." With each cutting adjective he glared at them even harder, flicking from Millicent, Pansy, Daphne, Blaise and finally landing on Draco with a vicious smirk.

"You are all pathetic." He turned awayand marched down the hall, pushing past Jimmy who stumbled and fell to the floor hitting his head on a silver door handle and therefore opening a previously un noticed door. He reached the end of the corridor when suddenly the chilled silence that had begun to haunt the group was broken by a raw throated yell of rage.

"NOTT YOU BASTARD, GET BACK HERE!" Draco Malfoy was enraged, fuming with an incessant anger to punch something. So with his wand forgotten Draco Malfoy went up and punched Theodore Nott square in the jaw. He was oblivious to the squeals from Pansy and Millicent and the furious shout of pain from Theo. He didn't notice Blaise trying to help the now passed out Jimmy off the floor or Daphne who was curiously peaking her head through the door Jimmy had knocked open. All Draco saw was Theo's fist as he went to return the punch.

Theo pushed Draco back down the corridor towards where Blaise was trying to enervate Jimmy. Pansy and Millicent followed behind them, giving an occasional outburst of emotion as one of the boys landed another punch or kick.

"Draco stop it please!" Yelled Pansy. Draco took his eyes off Theodore for a single second and Theo took that advantage and sent another punch flying into his face. There was the sickening crunch of something in Draco's nose breaking as he stumbled backwards, over the still passed out body of Jimmy Baumers and falling into the room. Grinning with his success Theo followed him, carelessly stepping over Jimmy and ignoring the blood leaking from a cut above his eyebrow.

Pansy and Millicent crowded into the room after them, herding Daphne along as well. Pansy was now shooting obscenities out of her pretty little mouth, Millicent looked to be on the verge of tears and Daphne looked simply mortified.

They were now all standing in a room with barely enough space to swing a house elf. The walls were all lined with rows and rows of pipes, like the most intricate plumbing they had ever seen. The pipes were made from different metals, in a single glance you could notice copper and bronze intertwining with nickel and gold. They wrapped around the corners and glided up onto the high ceiling like a work of art.

Draco and Theo did not seem to notice the mastery of the rooms design, Theo was pulling on a pipe in an effort to have a more destructive weapon. Remembering his wand a quick severing charm left a section of a copper pipe in his hands. As he walked towards Draco a look of pure unadulterated rage on his face it was left to Blaise to try and calm them all down.

"WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP!" HIs voice echoed up to the cavernous ceiling bouncing and ringing off the walls of pipes. Blaise rarely spoke up; so his thunderous yell was enough to stop them all in their tracks.

Draco glared at him from under his hands, which were clutching his nose defensively. Theo swung his head around to look at him with a crazed expression on his face. The girls were left standing together by the door, staring in turn at the three boys and Jimmy who was still lying face down dead to the world.

"Let's just leave; you two have made us all look dumb enough as it is. This is the type of publicity we don't need!"

Blaise spoke quickly and with an urgency that was apparent to all of them. The six of them all knew he was right. This was yet another spectacle they did not need, reguardless of what they might have deserved. They bristled at being told off as if they were children but neither Draco or Theo was going to finish this quietly. Draco stood up from the wall he was leaning against. "Actually I think this little burst of emotion has been a nice change from the stoic attitude Theo's been carrying around for the last eight years." He glared challengingly at Theo as he finised it, his smile saying more than the words did.

Theodore had a cutting reply ready in store but before he could use it he was cut off by Daphne, who spoke aloud for the first time that day.

"Theodore put the pipe back! Fix it quickly! We... we should get out of here…" She sounded worried and panicked, her eyes darting around the walls like flies. The others slowly noticed what had made her so alarmed. A red mist was seeping out of the broken copper pipe where Thro had taken his section from. It was fizzing and swirling around their feet, stinging in the places where it touched skin.

"Daphne why don't you go first?" Whispered Blaise. "Just leave the room, try not to touch anything." The red mist rose higher now, licking at their waists and arms. It smelt thicker than blood and heavier than quicksand. Nervously Daphne swallowed her fear and did what Blaise had told her, watching her classmates suddenly frightened faces. She noticed the way the mist seemed attracted to the blood leaking from Draco and Theodore. It whispered around their faces as gentle as anything she had seen. As she walked to the door Daphne tried to focus on just leaving the room, on just making it out of there before anything else started to happen. It was difficult to see though, there was a red haze to the room now and the five people standing in a grip of silent panick and nausea watched her silently. I just need to reach the door she thought. That was easy enough, she took one step foward and seeking direction to the door she leant her hand on a golden pipe, a catastrophic and life changing mistake.

There was an almighty scream of noise, a noise that couldn't be described with the English language and the gap where the door had been was suddenly shut. Gone, sealed off and now simply another impenetrable wall of pipes. Daphne cried out in shock, Theodore swore in fury and Pansy screeched in horror.

"What the hell happened? Get us out of here Greengrass!" Draco's words were drowned out though in the screams of his classmates. They pounded and yelled at the walls. Theo took to smashing pipes and the mist grew higher and higher, thicker and thicker until they could no longer look in front of them and see their hands. The spells and charms sent off by them were powerless, the feeling of weakness only making them more scared. Pansy and Millicent screamed shamelessly for help and sent off a riot of spells in every direction breaking and shattering more of the pipes. If anything this seemed only to make the mist grow higher and thicker faster. Theo and Draco were enraged, to scared to function properly. Blaise was left with Daphne by the door who was sobbing from the shock. All of them were bitten and ransacked by claustraphobia which as powerful as a beast took hold of their hearts. It mercilessly left of them yelling and screaming over the top of each other and begging anyone who could hear to come and save them. The mist was stinging and burning, they couldn't hold their eyes open with the pain. They felt the temperature rise in the room until it was hardly bearable. It became harder and harder to breath, like a great glass dome had been pushed over them and they were slowly running out of air.

The mist finally reached the high vaulted ceilings and fizzled, cracking against the pipes lining it. Daphne let out a final cry and then the explosion happened. Scraps of metal and wall were sent flying everywhere. It rattled the very foundations of the Department of Mysteries, prophesies fell from their places on the shelf and Sherry Delaware dropped a pile of paperwork in her office.

As the mist seeped out of the broken walls it revealed a pile of bloodied and unconscious young witches and wizards lying collapsed in a mess of panicked arms and legs. Then lying in what remained of the shimmering and sparkling silver corridor the poor, poor Jimmy Baumers. Unconscious and half buried in the remains of what had been a remarkable section of the Department of Mysteries; his head throbbing from what would be more than a simple head ache when he did finally wake up.

* * *

><p><em>And that was the prologue of what I hope will be an interesting and maybe even popular story! You never know, I could be on to something this time. :D<em>

_Anyway please review, I expect I will update this sooner rather than later, I can't leave so many ideas floating around in my head ir I might just go crazy! So this is bye for now, and puh lease review for me! Pretty Pretty Pavlova Please!_


	2. One: The Same Old Hogwarts?

**-Here you lovely people go, another chapter of _"Awakening Opportunities." _I am immensely grateful to _LoveWar66_ and _Yuuko _for reviewing. It means the world to know that there are people reading and that people have been enticed enough to follow and favourite this story. I will have more to say at the end of the chapter but for now please enjoy the latest chapter from the perspective of everyone's favourite Malfoy. :D**_  
><em>

_AWAKENING OPPORTUNITIES_

Set in the year 1999

**Chapter One: The Same Old Hogwarts?**

Draco Malfoy woke up instantly aware that he was sore and in a bed not his own. Groaning he opened his eyes and wincing from the light attempted to roll from his side onto his back. He hissed as his shoulder blades touched the mattress and rolled back onto his side. He wouldn't be sleeping on his back any time soon. While slowly his vision became less blurred what he was able to recollect in his mind did not. He could remember people screaming and crying and the smell of heat and fear. Then there had been the explosion.

"The explosion!" Draco exclaimed aloud and sat up, his heart suddenly racing and his vision no longer blurry. His outburst was short lived as he was suddenly ransacked by an onslaught of pain from his back. "Arrrgh what the hell!" He cried as the pain made his eyes water and sting. He yelled another round of obscenities as the pain slowly dimmed.

"Mr Malfoy if you'll kindly refrain from such language please, you are not the only one here." He was reprimanded sharply by a green robed Healer who looked too young to be wearing the qualified robes. The Healer pushed aside the white curtains boxing in his bed and walked in with a tray of potions and bandages following behind her. "If you would just stay sitting for the moment Mr Malfoy, I need to change the bandages on your nose."

"My nose?" Draco was confused; he couldn't even feel his nose. The Healer seemed to sense his confusion and smiled weakly at him with her pale watery eyes.

"Your nose was broken Mr Malfoy, a side effect of the setting dressing is that it numbs the area. You should have feeling in a couple of hours."

Draco watched as she peeled off a layer of bandages from his nose and methodically applied a layer of a purple potion and a crisp new bandage. It was disturbing seeing this take place but not having the capacity to feel it. He tried to ignore her as she went on about the inefficiency of the Episkey charm and the benefits of a perfectly stirred potion. When she was finished he carefully edged himself back onto his side, wincing only slightly this time as the stinging pain shot up his back.

Before the Healer was able to leave his curtained cubicle he asked her what was causing the pain in his back however this only caused the Healer to look at him with confusion. "There's nothing wrong with your back Mr. Malfoy." When Draco was about to speak again she cut him off. "If there is anything wrong with your back Mr. Malfoy it will just be aches and bruises, things best left to heal naturally. Now if you don't mind I do have other patients to see to, try not to pick at the dressing. You have more chance of a seamless heal if you leave it."

How rude Draco thought. Lying on his side he was beginning to feel his nose again, and it was itching like crazy. He had his hand halfway to his face before he remembered the Healer's sharp words. Regretfully he lowered his hand and tried not to think about both the stinging itch on his face and the aching pain from his back. He wished he could just fall asleep. He wished someone would tell him what had happened at the Department. He wished he'd had a chance to break Theo's nose. Draco closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>When Draco opened his eyes the white light was gone and the curtained cubicle was dark. His back wasn't aching as much anymore and the stinging was completely gone from his nose. He did notice though that he could feel the bandage falling off, he must have been scratching his nose in his sleep. He pressed the bandage back down with one hand. He felt much more alert and energised than the first time he has awoken, the wonder of actually sleeping he mused. Draco sat up and was wondering how he'd go about getting something to eat when he noticed there was a person standing at the end of the bed.<p>

"Mr Malfoy, thank you for finally waking. Are you able to walk or do you need me to levitate you?" The voice was sharp and crisp, the sound of authority cutting and slicing through the cool air in the hospital. The voice belonged to a stern looking woman with her hair pulled into a tight bun on the top of her head.

"Professor McGonagall?" Draco was more than a tad bewildered, what on earth was going on?

"Just hurry up Draco, I don't want to stand here all night waiting of for you." A snarky and condescending voice carried to his ears from behind the old transfiguration professor and Draco leaned over his bed to see who it was.

"Pansy?" He was surprised to see his five fellow Slytherins waiting in various states of injury. Pansy was standing while leaning lightly on the top of a wheel chair that Blaise was sitting in, a wide bandage across his eyes. Behind Blaise Millicent was sitting in another chair, her arms and legs covered in white bandages. Millicent was holding Daphne's hand who while standing looked pale and white in the face. Theo was at the very back, glaring at Draco venomously from his position on a floating stretcher. Draco noticed the wide bandage around his forehead and grinned. "Glad I made you bleed a little Nott."

Had he been able to walk Theodore would have been on Draco in an instant. "Keep talking Malfoy and I'll break your nose again."

"Boys, please act with some of the decorum that your house is supposedly meant to possess." Draco and Theo only glared at each other. From his position on the stretcher Theo gave Draco a rude hand gesture. Draco returned the hand gesture and Professor McGonagall sighed exhaustedly at the two of them. "I think I'm just going to levitate you into a chair Mr Malfoy, wouldn't want you and Mr Nott to cause another explosion."

Draco glared at the transfiguration professor as she changed his bed into a chair the same as the ones that Blaise and Millicent were sitting in. He gritted his teeth together, not wanting Theo have the satisfaction of seeing him in pain as he shifted from lying on his side to a sitting position.

"Would someone please explain what's going on?" Draco questioned as he felt his chair begin to glide above the ground next to the one Blaise was sitting in, neither of the wheels touching the ground as they moved.

Blaise grimaced in the direction of Draco's voice, "Apparently we're being moved for security and…"

"Mr Zabini, I will explain everything when we arrive, any rumours you have heard should not be mentioned until then." McGonagall waved her wand and they turned a corner walking past another open cubicle. On the bed there Draco could see the gold streaks in the curly brown hair of their miss-informed tour guide. Daphne, walking just behind him noticed his gaze.

"I feel sorry for him." She whispered, her voice sounding louder in the cavernous hallway. Draco looked back at him as they passed another corner and found he agreed with his pale classmate. Jimmy had all of his limbs bandaged and his left leg hung in a sling levitating above the bed.

McGonagall turned to face them suddenly and Millicent's chair ran into the back of Draco's. He hissed in pain and blinked the tears away from his eyes before any of the others could see them.

"If you're all ready I want you to place a finger on this, everything will be explained once you arrive. " McGonagall passed them a portkey in the shape of a broken ladies high heel shoe. Daphne reached for it unhesitatingly and Theo leaned from the stretcher to reach the toe. Pansy placed her hand and Blaise's on it. Draco reached for the heel. The last of them, Millicent, hesitated before reaching for it.

"Professor, where will this be taking us?"

McGonagall raised a single eyebrow at her but answered the question regardless. "Miss Bulstrode this portkey will take you to Hogwarts and nowhere else let me assure you of that." McGonagall then pushed Millicent forward to reach the shoe and before the group could blink again they were pulled like fish from the water and screaming over the top of each other they were sent flying back to Hogwarts.

McGonagall sniffed as they departed and then proceeded to leave St Mungos, vanishing the three chairs and the stretcher before they hit the ground. It was like the six Slytherins had never been there at all.

Suddenly being released from the hook of the portkey the six Slytherins found themselves being levitated onto beds in the Hogwarts hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey stood in the middle of the room, a grim expression on her face as she expertly levitated them down. When they were each on their own bed she lowered her wand and sighed.

"Why do I always have the most problems with your year level? The school year hasn't even started yet! This is simply absurd."

* * *

><p>Draco sat silently as Madame Pomfrey removed the bandages from his nose.<p>

"I'm sorry Mr Malfoy but by disturbing the bandages as you have you have only succeeded in interrupting the St Mungos potion. The enchantment has had too much air contact and while your nose has healed it will never return to the same state it was in before you and Mr Nott felt the urge to exert some testosterone."

Draco scowled at his reflection in the mirror he held. "That's hardly my fault, I was asleep when the bandages fell off! Can't you try an Episkey or a cosmetic charm?"

"Mr Malfoy, the kind Healers at St Mungos make it their prerogatives to not only heal injuries but to prevent them from happening again and kindly laced the potion with a permanent setting charm. Your nose will never be broken again and is set in its current position. An Episkey would be useless."

Draco's reflection only scowled deeper at Madame Pomfrey's words, making him all too aware of his new nose disfigurement. It was entirely obvious that it had been broken and not healed correctly.

"Lucky for you Madame Pomfrey I'm actually good at charms so even if you can't fix this I can hide it." With his smirk in place and a quick murmur Draco hid the new outlandish shape of his nose. Providing that he didn't swing his head around to quickly, or forget to reapply the charm every twelve hours then no one would be any wiser. There was no way he'd let Theo see his new nose.

Madame Pomfrey only sniffed at his charms skill. "Vanity is an ugly trait Mr Malfoy, and no charm can hide that. You can leave now, there's no further need for you to be here. McGonagall wants to see all of you in the great hall."

Draco stood from the bed, leaving a suddenly busy Madame Pomfrey in her hospital wing. He was the last one to leave having insisted that Madame Pomfrey see to his nose again. The others had left long before him and were no doubt waiting. Walking the halls of Hogwarts Draco was suddenly aware of how empty it was. The last time he had been in this building it had been a wreck and looking closely Draco could still see faint reminders of the last battle. Cracks in the floor, portrait frames empty of their inhabitants. Those portraits that were inhabited were filled with sleeping figures. Undoubtedly they were enjoying their last days of peace before the corridors were suddenly once again full of excitable teenagers. His footsteps echoed in the stone corridors and he was all too aware that some of the more active portraits were talking about him in hushed tones.

"Gossips." He muttered under his breath.

Reaching the great hall he didn't think about what this room had been filled with the last time he had seen it and took his place at the Slytherin table with his housemates. The gargantuan room was empty and the house banners missing from their places. A house elf was dusting a mantel piece and the fires were not even lit. The only people in the room, Draco's fellow Slytherins, were looking a combination of exhausted and bored. Pansy was actually sitting with her head on the table, groaning every few seconds. Hesitantly Draco took a seat beside her.

"Pansy, you look terrible." He said.

"Shut up Draco, I feel like jumping off the astronomy tower." Pansy's voice was missing its usual sarcasm and slight patronising tone. Instead it came across muffled and harassed through the combination of her arms and the curtain of dirty blonde hair she was hiding under.

"You shouldn't talk like that Pansy, why don't you go back to Madame Pomfrey?" Daphne Greengrass's voice carried down the table. Of the six Slytherins seated at the end of the table she looked the healthiest. Millicent still had her arms and legs covered with bandages and Blaise was sitting next to her with a wide bandage across his eyes and wrapped around his head. Compared to them Daphne by far looked the most awake and well put together.

"I wish I could Greengrass." Snapped Pansy with some of her temper slipping back into her voice. "But according to Madame Pomfrey there's no reason for me to feel this way. She gave me a potion for the headache after I pretty much screamed the paint off the walls but she thinks I'm just being a drama queen."

From opposite Draco Theo laughed "Well that's not exactly unbelievable is it."

Millicent snickered and Pansy pulled a hand out from under her head just long enough to give a rude hand gesture in the direction of his voice.

"Five points from Slytherin Miss Parkinson for obscene hand gestures." Professor McGonagall had just arrived in the Great Hall in time to see Pansy's signal to Theo and at her words Pansy swore quietly under her breath.

"What was that Miss Parkinson? Do I need to take more points off before the rest of the school has even arrived?"

Professor McGonagall ignored the Slytherins glares for the loss of points and instead addressed them loud enough and with enough force in her voice to make Pansy lift her head from the table to look at her.

"The six of you are privileged enough to have been allowed into Hogwarts before term starts as a way for you to avoid becoming any more involved with the chaos that has arisen due to the explosion in the Department of Mysteries on Friday. The entire ministry is in a panic because of it. What they were doing letting an Intern lead you through those areas I will never know. In light of the explosion the intern has been sent home and the Unspeakable who was supposed to be giving the tour has been sent back to America in disgrace. I believe they even fired the Unspeakable who arranged the whole thing. Regardless of your behaviour in the department the Ministry believes you accepted their incentives to return to school so it is to Hogwarts you have been brought. Therefore Mr Nott and Miss Parkinson I will advise you to control yourself unless you would like more points taken before term has even officially started."

Theo scowled at the stern Professor and Pansy merely grunted , the sound muffled as she returned to resting her head on the table. Sighing at them in exasperation McGonagall continued her lecture.

"The rest of the school shall be arriving tomorrow night on the 1st of September. I suggest you spend the last Sunday of your summer sending the house elves to collect your things. Be advised that you are not allowed to leave the school grounds. When you are hungry call for a house elf, for today and tomorrow only they will see to your individual needs. The temporary password to your common room is _'Atonement'_. Please do not do anything to void the favour being granted to you, many of students from your year will not be returning."

"So there will be more of us?" Interrupted Millicent, McGonagall looked on the cusp of removing points for her interruption but seemed to think better of it.

"Yes Miss Bulstrode, a few from each house have decided to return and all of you shall be repeating your seventh year. Had you decided not to you would have been considered honorary graduates but I am pleased with your decision to return to Hogwarts."

Her tone softened and for a moment she looked upon them with kinder eyes. For a second she looked older and more exhausted then any of the injured Slytherins thought she could be. Quickly though the woman they expected to see as headmistress tomorrow night returned to her hardened demeanour.

"Hogwarts will need help from everyone to recover, and having as many students as possible within our walls is a good way to start. Whatever your reasons for returning, you have made the right decision." She stared at Draco for a moment who shifted under her gaze. She excused herself, reminding them again not to leave the school grounds and then once again the six Slytherins were left alone.

After McGonagall had left the Slytherins quickly dispersed from the hall. Pansy immediately went down to their common room calling on Millicent and Daphne to follow her. Neither of the two girls seemed enthusiastic to be following her around again before school had even started.

Theo sighed dramatically, rubbing his temples. "Well I've got considerably better things to do today then be anywhere near you Malfoy. Have fun babysitting your little blinded buddy."

"I'm only temporarily blind Nott! And I'm not deaf in the mean time!" Zabini snarled in what he hoped was the direction of Theo.

"Ohhh I'm so scared Zabini, maybe when your bandages are off I'll punch you in the face. Then you and Malfoy can have matching noses."

Draco flinched and resisted the urge to check his nose. He knew the charm was in place. "I just wish I'd left more of a mark on you Malfoy that would've really made my day."

Blaise may have been blinded but he could feel Draco's temper rising. He wanted to be at Hogwarts and Nott and Malfoy's petty fights were not going to jeopardise that for him. "Get lost Nott! If your ego gets any bigger this'll be the only room in the Hogwarts that you'll fit!" Snarled Blaise with as much authority and force as he could muster hoping he was facing towards Theo. In spite of his aggressive words Theo only laughed.

"I guess that'll just be the second thing of mine that's bigger than yours then Zabini!" While Blaise scowled Theo walked laughing from the great hall.

"Usually, I make it my business to stay away from your business Malfoy, but Nott is really starting to piss me off."

Silently Draco agreed with Blaise but he only swore under his breath and took up Pansy's position at the table with his head on his arms. Maybe he'd join Parkinson if she ever really did decide to jump of the astronomy tower.

* * *

><p>That last Sunday drifted away quickly. Using a house elf to help guide Blaise around Draco managed to get all of their things back into their dormitory which seemed unusually empty now that the beds belonging to Crabbe and Goyle had been removed. The rest of the school would be arriving on Monday night and as the evening came closer The Slytherins wondered who else from their year would be returning.<p>

On Monday afternoon, just a short time from when they knew the train would arrive at Hogsmeade they were all scattered in front of the largest fire place in Slytherin Dungeon discussing who they expected to see that night. Millicent had just left to find out when they had to be in the great hall and there was a temporarily cheerful tone in the room.

"Granger undoubtedly" Said Blaise. He was grinning like a fool due to the fact Madame Pomfrey had allowed him to remove the bandage over his eyes on Monday morning and was now looking upon his classmates like he had never seen them before.

Theo rolled his eyes at him. "Of course she is Zabini, it is Granger. I reckon all the Gryffindors will be back, ready to re-build their school and sing songs and make everyone happy again." Theo's voice was dripping with sarcasm. He had been in a negative and condescending attitude since they had spoken to McGonagall on Sunday morning. All of the Slytherins were finding it difficult to tolerate the classmate that had once been so level headed.

"Well you're sure to put a downer on that aren't you Nott" Snarled Pansy. She was lying on a couch rubbing her temples. Her long hair that she was known for fussing over was tied up messily and she was looking no better than she did yesterday morning.

"Well I'm just looking forward to seeing my sister again." Said Daphne, her voice infused with the confidence that was becoming more noticeable in her since the explosion. "I haven't seen her since the explosion. Don't you think our families should have inquired about us?" At the sceptical gazes from Blaise and Draco and a ridiculing snort from Theo she sighed. "Or at the very least sent a house elf?" She continued weakly.

"Your family might be all sunshine and daises Daphne, so maybe they are a little bit concerned for you but last I heard my mother was running off to somewhere in Russia with another wealthy old man." Blaise absentmindedly picked at the threads on the couch he was sitting on. "They're probably married by now you know."

Theo barked a laugh at Blaise, and spoke with his words drowned in sarcasm. "Well we all wish her congratulations then Zabini! How lovely for you, another step father. I can say that my father would probably be quite happy for a woman to carry him off to eastern Russia. Hell, my dad would probably rather be trapped in Siberia than where I expect he'll be soon."

"We get it Theo, your dad's going to Azkaban would you quit complaining!" Draco snarled at Theo, sick of his constant antagonism and pessimism.

Theo wouldn't stand for the attack and yelled at Draco threateningly. "Shut up Malfoy! With any luck your entire family will be there soon, and you as well hopefully!"

Draco was about to retort when Millicent returned to the common room interrupting him with a glare. "Will you both save this exertion of verbal testosterone for later?" She snapped standing up above them. She wasn't a petite young lady, and could certainly be intimidating when she wanted to. "We have to go anyway; the carriages are starting to arrive."

Daphne immediately stood to leave giving Pansy a hand to lift her up from the couch. Pansy really did look dreadful and Draco doubted that she would make it through the opening feast's entirety without giving them all a lovely reminder of what she had had for breakfast.

Blaise gave Draco a grin and stood up as well. "Come on Draco, if we get there quickly we can stare at them as they come in instead of having to walk into a room full of people to stupid to realise we have an education to finish as well."

Had he been excited about the upcoming feast Draco might have smiled as well but as it was he greatly wanted to just go back to his dorm and hide under the green sheets on his bed untill the year was over. Blaise wouldn't have that however and was quickly ushering all of the Slytherins out of the common room and up the dungeon staircase to the entrance hall. They quickly entered the Great Hall and for a moment Draco felt his heart stop.

For a second Draco felt time had gone backwards and that he was standing in the Great Hall before the war and the anarchy had ransacked what had been one of Hogwarts most beautiful rooms. The four house tables were set with the golden plates, platters and goblets and the room was once again decorated with the four house banners. The fireplaces were roaring and the professors were taking their seats at the front table, shaking hands and reacquainting themselves with each other. Above their heads the ghosts floated throughout the room, waiting to see the students return to the castle.

Next to him Blaise let out a sigh of relief. "I didn't think this place would ever look this good again." Draco only nodded mutely and the six Slytherins each went to take their seats at the Slytherin table. Just as they did the first students began to enter the Great Hall, talking excitedly and each one of them looking around the Great Hall with the same wonder that had struck Draco and Blaise when they had entered.

While Draco stared at his plate and tried not to think about all the people coming in who would eventually notice them Blaise and the other Slytherins were keeping a commentary on the students from their year that had returned. In a similar fashion to the Slytherins they entered in their house groups, undoubtedly they had sat that same way on the train and in the carriages.

"Look here come the Puffs." Said Millicent, drawing their attention to a group of four students which was honestly less than Draco had expected.

"I can see Abbot, Bones, Macmillian and Finch-Fletchley." Continued Millicent. "I wonder what happened to the others."

"Probably weren't given a place because of all the Ravenclaws coming back, just look at them!" Interrupted Theo.

Draco slid his gaze over to the Ravenclaw table and sure enough there were more Ravenclaws than Hufflepuffs.

"There's not that many extra, just one." Said Daphne, "Patil and Turpin are back but so are Boot, Corner and Goldstein. That's just one more than the Puffs." She continued. Draco didn't have anything to say. Why should he care whether or not Ravenclaw had more returning students than Hufflepuff?

"Oh and would you look at that!" Said Blaise triumphantly. "Good old Granger returning to Hogwarts, don't you love reliability?"

"As if there was any doubt that she wouldn't come back." Snapped Draco. "It's Hermione freaking Granger."

"But looks like her little dream team hasn't come back with her!" Said Blaise. At these words Draco did raise his head to look at the Gryffindor table and sure enough Potter and Weasley were absent from Granger's side. Instead she had taken a seat at the table next to the girl Weasley and Longbottom. The only other Gryffindors he could see from their year were Thomas and the other Patil twin. That was unexpected, with their chivalrous nature Draco would have expected Gryffindor to have the most returning students of all the houses. Instead Draco was left to realise that it was actually Slytherin that had the most students repeating the year with the six of them. Judging by the faces of his five housemates he was not the only one surprised that the Gryffindor dream team had not all returned together.

His contemplation of this was interrupted as a laughing swirl of long blonde hair took a seat next to him.

"Oh Daph! I am so glad to see you again! Do you have any idea how nerve racking this last week has been without you?"

It was Astoria Greengrass, the younger sister of Daphne. The two sisters known in Slytherin for looking nothing alike were now leaning across the table, smiling at each other and talking excitedly. Astoria had a huge smile across her face as she reunited with her sister.

"Daph I was so worried about you, they told us about the explosion but they said you were all okay. Are you okay? Is everything okay?" Astoria spoke urgently to her sister but Daphne only smiled.

"I feel amazing Astoria, like everything is better."

"Everything?" Whispered Astoria while looking unexplainably nervous.

"Everything." Whispered Daphne with a grin and she reached across the table to clasp her sisters hand.

Draco felt decidedly uncomfortable at their behaviour; they were talking about more than just Daphne's recovery from the explosion. He tried to ignore how close Astoria was to him as the Slytherin table filled up with more and more of the students entering the Great Hall and taking their seats.

The noise was becoming clamorous and the hall was filled with the excited discussions and anticipation that was always present at the opening feast. There was something different about it though, a stillness that Draco could only assume came from the knowledge that this room had been a battle ground. That people had died in these rooms. He could not remove the image of this room serving as a house for the dead. The bodies all lined up in their rows, with their crying relatives and friends around them. At his own thoughts Draco felt himself go pale. He should not be thinking about this!

His thoughts were interrupted as the doors to the Great Hall were opened wider than they had been before and the first years in their crisp new robes with eyes as wide as dinner plates on their exuberant faces were marched into the Great Hall by Hagrid.

The Sorting Hat was already on the stool in front of the teachers table, and as expected McGonagall sat in the headmasters or rather the headmistress's chair. When Hagrid and the first years reached the front of the hall she rose from the seat, silencing the hall with her famous look.

" Welcome everyone to Hogwarts. This year we not only welcome the new to be sorted but we welcome back our repeating first years who were robbed of their sorting through Voldemort's mad and deranged grasp for power." McGonagall's voice rang our clearly, echoing through the hallowed hall that many of the first years stared at with their mouths agape. With her head held high McGonagall spoke with conviction and pride. "All of us are repeating a year that has left its mark on each of us and it is with great hope that we welcome our new first years, the newest ones to grace these ancient halls. The wondrous amazement you are currently demonstrating is the reason Hogwarts is open. Without Further delay we invite you to be sorted with the knowledge that regardless of your sorting your house is your family and Hogwarts is your home."

As she took her seat again the Great Hall released a round of applause that shook the candles hovering above the tables. McGonagall inclined her head to the four tables and the hall was silenced as they waited for the Sorting Hat to begin his song.

Draco didn't listen to the song; he had heard it all before, the coded warnings the house descriptions. What more could the hat have to offer? As he looked past Daphne's head to the ceiling he heard the final verse of the hat's song and it chilled him to his bones.

"_The future now is here_

_And roaring with its might._

_Embrace the change and do not shrink in fear_

_Change leads only to the light."_

As the hat finished his song the school clapped and cheered. He bowed to each of the four tables and resumed his inanimate state upon the stool. Encouraged by a look from the Headmistress Hagrid unrolled the scroll of names and called "Abensford, Dale" to be the first student to be sorted. There was an intense silence for a moment as the Great Hall waited to see which house Dale would be joining. One minute later the hat roared: "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the entire room cheered for him. With an ecstatic grin Dale went joined the table full of badgers, who lent forward in their seats to shake his hand, pat him on the back and give him an obnoxiously Hufflepuff hug.

"Adams, Lucy" was the next to be sorted and it was with a huge grin and a thunderous roar from the crowd that she was sorted into Gryffindor.

Hagrid continued his way down the list. The list was the longest Draco could ever remember it being. Probably because of all the first years who were being given a second chance at being sorted. It was easy to tell the ones who had seen the hall before. If anything Draco realised they looked more nervous. Probably at the thought that they would be separated from the friends they had already made last year. The first new Slytherin to join the table was "Eastwatch, Claire" and she was a tiny girl with midnight skin and hair. She seemed pleased with her sorting though and snakes cheered loudly as they welcomed her. The sorting continued finishing finally with "Zachary, Marie" being sorted into Ravenclaw. As she took her seat at the crowded table Hagrid rolled up the scroll again and walked loudly behind the teachers table to take his seat. When he was seated and had picked up the goblet of pumpkin juice he had knocked down in the process Professor McGonagall rose from her seat again and smiled at the vast array of students before her.

"It is good to finally see Hogwarts whole again." Her voice was loud, clear and unwavering. Even the portraits were silent in their frames as she spoke. "It is good to finally see the Great Hall filled with students again and to hear the life returning for the castle. I am sure I speak for all of us when I say that it has been a hard road to make it here. Many of you I know would have been torn between returning to Hogwarts and staying with your families and your homes. Perhaps many of you still are but be assured that you have made the right decision. Hogwarts needs its students to be whole. You are the life blood of this castle and now that the castle is whole again will we finally be able to repair and to heal complety."

McGonagall paused in her speech and Draco watched her gaze as she started at each of the four houses. The students sat solemnly and even the new first years seemed aware of the significance and the power of the words that she was speaking.

"We will learn from the past. We will not walk blindly into the future making the same mistakes that led to so much loss and pain. Hogwarts will be more unified and more of a family than ever before. We will become greater than we were. Stronger and wiser and with our eyes wide open we will build a new future for Hogwarts. A future that I know will be amazing and awe inspiring and greater than anything we have ever seen before."

McGonagall stood a little taller and smiled widely at the students before her making wrinkles appear at her eyes and mouth. "And now I ask all of you to enjoy the first Welcoming Feast of this new era in the history of Hogwarts."

As she concluded her speech she clapped her hands and the golden platters were suddenly full of food and the goblets full of pumpkin juice. At all four of the tables the new first years squealed in delight and the hall was once again full of the sounds of a great feast. Cutlery tinkering and goblets clinking together. There was laughing and excited conversation and Draco felt all around him happiness and hope. Across from him Blaise was grinning like an idiot, Pansy had managed to lift her head from the table and even Theo looked a little happier.

Blaise lifted his goblet towards him and smiled widely. "Back at the same old Hogwarts, this is fantastic!" He laughed and began to pile food onto his plate. Draco couldn't help smiling back at him but as he piled his plate with roast lamb and potatoes McGonagall's words resonated inside him and he could still see the Hall as it had been on that disastrous night. These doubts in his mind Draco couldn't help but think that no; this was not the same old Hogwarts at all.

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><p><strong>-There you go wonderful readers! I know it has been a long time, but this story will be continued with the same length and detail that exists in this chapter and the previous chapter. I'd feel even worse knowing that I was making you wait months if it was only for a thousand words.<strong>

**-For the remaining chapters I am considering having a different perspective for each one, maybe more than one in each chapter as events begin to escalate. I am more than happy to consider suggestions on who you would like to hear from next! So please mention that when you review.**

**-This is an X-Men crossover so expect some unusual things to begin happening in the next chapter. Certain people may or may not realise they have some new, unique abilities. Feel free to guess who and what in your review! For a person that can guess correctly I will have to think of some amazing prize for you.**

**-Speaking of prizes I have decided that for each person that reviews I will read and review one of their own stories. Spread some of the love if you will. If you're more of a reader than a writer here why not recommend me ****something to read? I'll read pretty much anything. If the number of reviews for the story reaches the point where I can't do this for everyone then I'll have start doing the first five reviewers or something. (And it would be AMAZING if that could happen) Regardless this should become pretty interesting.**

**-For anyone wondering if there will be any romance in this story it will not be a focal point, however pairings are being set up and I am not telling you if they will be cannon or not! Reviews to the people who can guess the pairings I'm trying to establish!**

**-Finally I am loving writing this story and I sincerely hope that there is a few people who are loving reading this! So thankyou very much and I hope you loved it!**


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